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High Fives: Around the horn

Headshot


Brandon
Funston

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Mike
Harmon

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Matt
Romig

Yahoo! Sports' trio of fantasy experts will each offer up, on a regular basis, a look at their top five lists dealing with a variety of topics.

This week's topics: With the launch of Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball 2005, the experts get in the drafting mood by offering up their top five players by position.

Top 5 catchers

  • Victor Martinez

  • Ivan Rodriguez

  • Javy Lopez

  • Jason Varitek

    Varitek ranked second among BoSox and MLB catchers with 10 SB.

  • Jorge Posada

  • Victor Martinez

    100 RBIs by a catcher is rare these days, especially one in his first full season

  • Ivan Rodriguez

  • Javy Lopez

  • Joe Mauer

  • Jorge Posada

Top 5 first basemen

  • Albert Pujols

  • Todd Helton

    Holds an absurd .377 career average at Coors.

  • David Ortiz

  • Jim Thome

  • Carlos Delgado

  • Albert Pujols

    500 RBI in first 4 seasons puts him in company of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams

  • Todd Helton

  • Jim Thome

  • Carlos Delgado

  • Mark Teixeira

Top 5 second basemen

  • Alfonso Soriano

  • Bret Boone

    24 HR with 83 RBI in "down" year. Add Sexson and Beltre – big things await.

  • Marcus Giles

  • Jeff Kent

  • Mark Loretta

  • Alfonso Soriano

  • Marcus Giles

  • Bret Boone

  • Jeff Kent

  • Chone Figgins

    Being able to play his 30-40 steals nearly anywhere is a nice luxury to have

Top 5 third basemen

  • Alex Rodriguez

  • Scott Rolen

  • Adrian Beltre

  • Aramis Ramirez

  • Melvin Mora

    A five-tool contributor with two straight years of .400-plus OBP.

  • Alex Rodriguez

  • Scott Rolen

  • Eric Chavez

    Big jump in OBP in '04 suggests that .300, 30, 100 season is imminent.

  • Melvin Mora

  • Adrian Beltre

Top 5 shortstops

  • Miguel Tejada

  • Derek Jeter

  • Michael Young

  • Nomar Garciaparra

    When sound, he averages 27 HR and 107 RBIs. Will his Achilles hold?

  • Jimmy Rollins

  • Miguel Tejada

  • Nomar Garciaparra

  • Edgar Renteria

    Hitting in front of Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz is the definition of the catbird seat.

  • Derek Jeter

  • Jimmy Rollins

Top 5 outfielders

  • Carlos Beltran

  • Vladimir Guerrero

  • Bobby Abreu

    Has averaged 24 HR and 31 SB in the past six years.

  • Manny Ramirez

  • Barry Bonds

  • Vladimir Guerrero

  • Carlos Beltran

  • Bobby Abreu

  • Manny Ramirez

  • Ichiro

    Likely would have led MLB in Runs in '04 with Beltre and Sexson behind him.

Top 5 starters

  • Randy Johnson

  • Johan Santana

  • Jason Schmidt

    Has piled up 35 wins in the past two years with 459 strikeouts.

  • Roger Clemens

  • Mark Prior

  • Randy Johnson

  • Johan Santana

  • Mark Prior

  • Jason Schmidt

  • Curt Schilling

    20 wins, 200-plus K's in 3 of past 4 seasons

Top 5 closers

  • Eric Gagne

  • Mariano Rivera

  • Brad Lidge

  • Joe Nathan

    From vulture to closer: Converted 48 of 51 save opportunities in 04.

  • Armando Benitez

  • Eric Gagne

  • Brad Lidge

  • Keith Foulke

  • Francisco Rodriguez

    Could get as many saves as Rivera and twice as many K's

  • Mariano Rivera